Rail construction and connector therefor



Nov. 14, 1967 P. N. NELSON 3,352,491

RAIL CONSTRUCTION AND CONNECTOR THEREFOR Filed July 23. 1965 I NV E NTOR.

fEK/W/L /14 445mm United States Patent Filed July 23, 1965, Ser. No. 474,366 1 Claim. (Cl. 238-209) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector for an oblique rail joint having a base number of a size to lie beneath the entire oblique abutting end surfaces of the rail joint and which provide corresponding opposite corner clamps for embracing the base flange of the rail ends on opposite sides of the oblique joint, together with laterally extending connecting members adapted to lie in facial abutment upon and be connected to a rail supporting tie, so that the oblique joint will be supported by the connector as well as the tie.

This invention relates to a new and improved connector for an oblique joint and more particularly to a construction of a rail for use with railroad equipment and a device for fixedly connecting the abutting ends of the rail together to form a continuous track for railroad equip ment and the like.

A principal object of this invention is in a rail construction of this character wherein the confronting ends thereof are so formed as to remove the annoying wheel noise generated as the wheel of a railroad car or the like passes over the connecting joints or complementary ends of the rail.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described which includes a means for securing the confronting ends of the new and novel rail construction together in such a manner as to provide a continuous non-separable track for railroad equip ment and the like.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred form of construction, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the end connection between the new and novel rail construction and the connector employed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rail connector showing certain parts thereof in exploded relation; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of an improved connector.

The railroad tracks as presently constructed comprise a substantially flush end-to-end connection between sections of the rails that comprise the track. This flush connection, due to the contraction and expansion of the metal rails, produces a space between the abutting ends of the rails resulting in an annoying and undesirable noise and vibration as the wheels of a railroad vehicle and the like are caused to pass thereover.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an end-to-end connection for rail members of a railroad track which eliminates the annoying noise and vibrations above described.

Referring to FIG. 1, I show the abutting ends of two rail sections and 11. These rail sections 10 and 11 are constructed in the manner well known in the art and as such include a flange base 12, a vertically extending leg member 13 which terminates into an enlarged substantially rectangularly shaped head 14.

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The heads 14 of the rail sections 10 and 11 provide a flat horizontally extending vertically disposed wheel-engaging surface 15 and 16 respectively, upon which normally rests the flange portion of the wheel structure of a railroad vehicle and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the confronting ends of the rail sections 10 and 11 are formed so as to provide angularly confronting surfaces 17 and 18 disposed obliquely with respect to the longitudinally length of the rail sections 10 and 11. Each of the vertical leg members 13 provides a plurality of openings extending horizontally therethrough which receive connecting bolts 19 of a rail connector 20.

The rail connector 20 includes a base member 21 which is of awidth suflicient to extend to opposite side edges of the base flange 12 of the rail sections 10 and 11. The connector has the base portion 21 thereof slotted as at 22 to provide along opposite parallel edges a plurality of connecting members 23, 24, and 25. 7

As viewed in FIG. 2, the connecting members 24 and 25 are formed into U-shaped sections by being bent back upon the base portion 21. These members 24 and 25 thus become flange clamps adapted to be positioned upon the base flange 12 of the rail sections 10 and 11, as shown in FIG. 1. The undisturbed portion 23 is provided with an aperture 26 which is adapted to receive a tie spike for connecting the rail connector to a suitable railroad tie or the like. The connector 20 is adapted to be positioned on the confronting ends of the rail sections 16 and 11, as shown in FIG. 1, so that it extends equally beneath the base flanges 12 thereof covering the diagonally extending space between the ends of the rail sections 10 and 11.

The connector 20 includes two rectangulraly formed connecting bars 28 and 29, each of which are provided with apertures 30 which will correspond to the apertures formed in the vertical leg members 13 of the rail sections 10 and -11 so as to receive therethrough the connecting bolts 19. Thus I have provided a simple, yet effective connector for the offset confronting ends of the rail sections 10 and 11.

Referring to FIG, 3, I show a modified form of the connector 31 which includes a base plate 32 which has its opposite parallel edges slotted at 33 and 34 so as to provide base flange clips 35 and 36, as hereinbefore described. However, the opposite flange clip members37 and 38 have a portion 38' thereof bent at right angles thereto so as to support an integrally formed connecting bar 39. This bar 39, as well as the associated independent connecting bar 40 is provided with apertures 41, which receive the connecting nuts and bolts 19, whereby the ends of the rail sections 10 and 11 can be connected thereto in a desired relation relative to each other.

By providing the rail sections 10 and 11 with a diagonal or oblique surface connection, the noise and vibration of a wheel passing over such open connection between the rail sections 11 and 11 is eliminated; this, by reason of the fact that the wheel portion will at all times have contact with a large portion of the head -14 of either one or the other rail sections 10 and 11 and will pass from one to the other gradually throughout the diagonal length of the separation rather than abruptly as when in the present form of rail construction, the ends are disposed in spaced apart parallel relation transversely to the longitudinal length of the rails.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as comes within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as lie in facial abutment on and be connected to a new and'desire to protect by Letters Patent is: rail supporting tie,

A rail connector for a rail having a base flange, a ver- (d) retaining bars extending in the direction of the tical leg member and a head, an oblique rail joint verlongitudinal length of the rails on either side of their tically extending between the adjacentends of rails dis- 5 vertical leg members across the oblique vertically posed 1n end-to-end relationship comprising: extending abutting surfaces. thereof, and extending (a) a base plate extending beneath and 1n contact with beyond the ends of said base plate and the entiredhoigztlnlntally aligned base flanges of the ad- (elgneargs for;1 conrlzectfilg said igetalnmtgfibars to Bltlgel jacent en s o t erais, s1 e o sa ve ica y ex en ng o que oint e- (b) said base plate providing at corresponding opposite 1O tween the adjacent ends of the rails.

corners U-shaped clamps so disposed with respect to the vertically extending oblique rail joint that cer- References Cited tag: diggonall f opposilte cgrnetrljctl'hclagm dci mbracle UNITED STATES PATENTS a ase angeo one rai an W1 e 0 er agona 1y disposed clamps embracing the ends of the base 1 gggiy f bot 'l I I V (cj fn rie ting 1 1121 132 integrally formed from said l25915o 3/1918 Smith 238 234 2,643,064 6/1953 Standfast 238'-23O base plate extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions from between adjacent corners clamps and in vertical alignment with the oblique rail joint be- 20 ARTHUR POINT Primary Exammer' tween the adjacent ends of the rail and adapted to R. A. BERTSC-H, Assistant Examiner. 

